The City of Ypsilanti is hiring more police officers and firefighters to stave off overtime costs and prevent "burn out" from within the two departments, officials said.

The Ypsilanti Police Department.File photo

"We don't have enough people," said Mayor Paul Schreiber. "We have (too) many people working overtime. It's a burn-out situation."

The city is looking to hire three officers and two or three firefighters immediately, according to City Council Member Pete Murdock. In total, six officers, not including the search for the chief, will be hired over the next few months.

The city is in the process of interviewing candidates. Eighty-nine people applied for the firefighter positions and that number was narrowed down to 32 and then 10.

The number of applicants for the police positions were not immediately available, but the city is interviewing seven candidates, according to Murdock.

The city posted the police chief position on Sept. 17 and is accepting applications through Oct. 14. Chief Amy Walker's last day was Oct. 11, after accepting a private sector job.

Over the years, the city's workforce has been reduced largely through attrition and positions not being filled after retirements. According to Schreiber, the city at one point had around 140 employees and now hovers around 90.

"Some of those have been police officers and firefighters, but the reality is, we're still in a deficit," Schreiber said. "If you ask me if I'm getting lots of requests to have more staffing, the answer is no. Obviously, when there's an incident, surveillance is stepped up."

Schreiber said public safety accounts for more than half of the city's budget.

"People obviously understand the budget issue with the city, but because of the union contracts, we weren’t hiring, so if someone left we wouldn't hire," Schreiber said. "Now we have contracts down, we’re starting to staff up now."

The city just settled a contract with the fire department after 18 months of negotiation. The police officers contract was approved a few months ago.

"We have an excellent police department and that's why we wanted to keep it as a city run department," Schreiber said. "Whenever I talk to someone who has had an issue, they say the police department was great and understanding.

"It goes a long way toward making people feel good about where they live. Safety is an issue everywhere, not just Ypsilanti. I thin people feel both the police and fire departments are good."

Murdock said the positions need to be filled so the city can better serve the community, in addition to reducing overtime costs.

"It's costing us a lot money," Murdock said.

The hiring will also help reduce the calls per service for each other, Murdock said.

Two years ago, the department was made up of 40 sworn officers and nine civilian employees. Earlier this year, those numbers were confirmed to have decreased to 25 sworn officers.

The latest SEMCOG data from 2011 show that with a population of 19,435 people, Ypsilanti has 12.8 officers per 10,000 residents, which is well below the benchmark of 16.

Two years ago, the department had 20.5 officers per 10,000 residents.

The benchmark number of dispatched calls per officer also has been affected in recent years. The department handles about 20,000 calls per year, with 800 being handled by each officer. SEMCOG said this is far above the average of 570. When the workforce was at 40 sworn officers, each officer handled about 500 calls.

With the hiring, including the chief, Murdock said the department would be staffed at 31, pushing the city closer to the recommended benchmark.

The city plans to bring the fire department staff number up to 18.

Katrease Stafford covers Ypsilanti for The Ann Arbor News. Reach her at KatreaseStafford@mlive.com or 734-623-2548 and follow her on Twitter.